Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Underoath - "Breathing in a New Mentality" from Lost in the Sound of Separation (2008)
5/5. Honestly, this opening highlight can really take you by surprise by starting with riffs, drumming, and screams in a lower volume before shoving heavy loudness through your mouth and throat. This is a far more powerful opener than that of the previous album and playlist. Spencer Chamberlain's screaming sound demanding while Aaron Gillespie's drumming dominates and the guitar chords cuts more sharply than razor blades.
Trivium - "Rain" from Ascendancy (2005)
5/5. This next song kicks off the metal action in a vicious bang, setting a feverish pace maintained throughout its original album.
Falling in Reverse - "Raised by Wolves" from The Drug in Me Is You (2011)
4.5/5. Pre-Popular Monster Falling in Reverse isn't really metal nor something I really like, but this kick-A first track of their debut is as metalcore as they could get back then, mixing it with their usual pop punk similarly to early A Day to Remember.
BOI WHAT - "Let Me Crawl" from Let Me Crawl (2025)
4.5/5. Plankton AI metal goes Linkin Park/Memphis May Fire/Architects.
Bleed from Within - "Hands of Sin" from Hands of Sin (2024)
5/5. An awesome hard-hitter with a deep chorus, "Stood on the outside I'm looking in, holding peace in hands of sin. This moral mind wears a second skin, the end is now where I begin."
Shadow of Intent - "The Return" from Reclaimer (2017)
5/5. Technical deathcore is practically combined with the symphonic power metal guitarwork of Symphony X and Iced Earth. If the clean vocals were higher and more operatic, the band would've beaten Dragoncorpse in that game. Plus there's some medieval harpsichord! Now there's still the more extreme side of the spectrum with the brutal breakdown and the blackened death growls. It's amazing that the vocalist Ben Duerr would still have that power in their next album.
Carnifex - "No Light Shall Save Us" from World War X (2019)
4.5/5. An antiheroic anthem to love and embrace the darkness, featuring Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz.
A Night in Texas - "The God Delusion" from The River Delusion (2015)
4/5. Death metal/core continues to strike with its great cosmos-destroying might.
The Acacia Strain - "Beast" from Wormwood (2010)
4.5/5. "Whatever is necessary to do, you do it. Whenever somebody needs to be killed, there's no wrong, you do it, and you move on." "My life is a shooting range, people never change." Those lyrics are better taken as an incentive for taking on video game bosses. F***ing bad-a** downtempo deathcore featuring Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed.
CABAL - "Redemption Denied" from Redemption Denied (2025)
4/5. Another underrated band rises in the deathcore horde. Let's all stop being fixated on the behind-the-scenes drama of the genre and focus on how sick the music's gonna be this year. Other bands heading up include Humanity's Last Breath, Black Tongue, and Paleface Swiss. The lyrics and drumming are quite great here. So brutal as f*** with lots of creativity and noise.
Dal Av, Andy Cizek - "Remember Me" from Remember Me (2023)
4.5/5. With Monuments vocalist Andy Cizek onboard, it's a battle of demons and angels that can make any car ride brutal. Absolute djenty metalcore gold!
Shokran - "Supreme Truth" from Supreme Truth (2014)
4/5. I love this track getting me hypnotized by the riffs and growls sounding like Whitechapel while mixed with stunning melodies.
Mindsnare - "Flood" from Credulity (1996)
3.5/5. Pretty good early hardcore/metalcore track though it would've been better without that one-minute intro ("CAN YOU HEAR ME!?!").
Ice Nine Kills - "Dead is the New Black" from The Burning (2007)
4/5. This is from Ice Nine Kills' earlier era before they went all intense and horror-themed. Spencer Charnas is quite talented in his vocals and guitarwork. They've already gotten past their ska punk phase at this point.
Vianova - "Melanchronic" from Melanchronic (2025)
4.5/5. A sick song for a fun night drive, almost like Neurotech gone metalcore.
Get the Shot - "Pit of Misery" from Pit of Misery (2025)
4/5. This journey through brutal death/metalcore insanity isn't over yet...
Parkway Drive - "It's Hard to Speak Without a Tongue" from Killing with a Smile (2005)
4.5/5. This one is a standout track beginning with a simple clean guitar riff before drilling drums and thunderous bass come in followed and impressive solo-like melody. The melody fades into a quieter riff to fit it with the growling. That melody is used again the chorus section. An unusually well-balanced song for Parkway Drive!
Eighteen Visions - "A Short Walk Down a Long Hallway" from Vanity (2002)
5/5. The best track of its original album for me. The singing, soloing, riffing, and lyrics all reach their very peak. "Disgust, disgrace, you'll slap that look right off of my face, I'll play God, I'll play dead, You'll be the one to shoot me in the head." I also love the screaming by Corey Darst from The Pretty Weapons who was also a live vocalist for Zao.
Imminence - "Proclaim" from The Reclamation of I (2024)
4.5/5. The violin that starts this track might have some listeners confused thinking they put on a My Dying Bride album, but then it explodes into dramatic metalcore, not too far off from The Showdown's 2004 debut instrumentally.
Make Them Suffer - "No Hard Feelings" from Make Them Suffer (2024)
5/5. Alex Reade has more of the divine spotlight in this highlight. The heaviness is toned down slightly for some lovely melody, while staying fast and killer. Sean Harmanis continues his harsh screams while also offering some gruff singing behind Reade. They both might make the best metal vocal duo of the year alongside Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong!
Alleviate - "Forevermore" from DMNS (2024)
4.5/5. One of the heaviest songs I've heard in modern metalcore. You don't wanna miss out on the chaos that is two minutes of your life you want more of. This banger is more brutal than even the heaviest of As I Lay Dying. Lots of interesting fire to make up for the worst of times.
Graphic Nature - "Human" from Who Are You When No One is Watching? (2024)
4/5. This one has more melodic synths, while blending it with heavy guitars, a balance already mastered by Sleep Token.
Hollow Front - "Caved In" from Homewrecker (2017)
3.5/5. Pretty cool, but I wish there could've been some Cave In-like experimentation.
Convictions - "Sleeping Lotus" from The Fear of God (2024)
4/5. Such a destructive yet beautiful tune. What else can I say?
Inertia - "Theist" from Unlearn (2017)
4.5/5. Bad-a** lyrics once again, with the music reminding me of Polaris.
Half Me - "Fatalist" from Opium EP (2024)
4/5. "I WILL DIE AS A FATALIST!!!!!" The breakdown goes quite hard, as much as the ones by Thrown, whom they have collaborated with previously.
Rolo Tomassi - "Opalescent" from Grievance (2015)
4.5/5. Rolo Tomassi never disappoints! The drums start off jazzy then, at the end, rise into massive blackened blasts. The instrumentation and vocals are quite beautiful, though if there was any screamed vocals, it would've been perfect.
Ion Dissonance - "(D.A.B.D.A.) State of Discomposure" from Cast the First Stone (2016)
5/5. See what I mean!? Those growled/screamed vocals help make this the fantastic nearly 9-minute mathcore epic it is.
Revnoir - "Revenge" from Revenge (2025)
4.5/5. Revnoir, along with Landmvrks, Novelists, and Resolve, have the ambition to bring light to the French metalcore scene with heavy bangers like this. D*mn, I'm so proud of those guys!
All That Remains - "Blood & Stone" from Antifragile (2025)
5/5. Finally we have this epic emotional closing track. The piano intro and outro are performed by none other than Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater. And in between is a metalcore extravaganza of heavy riffs and whimsical DragonForce-like leads. Philip Labonte lets out perhaps his most dynamic vocals to date. The perfect way to close this masterpiece album and this playlist!
Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!